Your car’s heater is blowing cold air because the heater core is either clogged or leaking. The heater core is found under the passenger-side dashboard. This core is a series of tubes through which hot engine coolant flows. When you turn on your car, truck, or utility vehicle’s heater, the air blows over these hot tubes before it flows through the vents. If the heater core is clogged or leaking, it doesn’t have any hot coolant to warm the air. Cergizan’s Auto & Truck Repair advises that this is just one sign that your heater core has a problem. We are going to list the additional signs below.
Low Coolant Levels
If the heater core is leaking, your engine coolant levels will be reduced significantly. Unfortunately, this will make your engine overheat even if it’s cold outside. Until such time as you get the heater core replaced, your engine will continue to lose coolant out of the leaking core. If you find that you have to add to your engine coolant frequently, it’s possible that the heater core is leaking.
Wetness Under the Dashboard
One way to check to see if the core is leaking is to feel the floorboard underneath your dashboard. If it feels wet, this is likely engine coolant that is coming from the heater core. Again, replacing the core is the only way to fix this problem, and until such time as you do so, you will end up with low coolant levels, an overheating engine, and a wet floorboard.
Sweet and Musty Odors
You may also be able to smell the engine coolant leaking out of the heater core. Engine coolant has a sweet and musty odor to it. Some people think it smells like maple syrup. If you smell this odor coming out of your vents, what you are detecting is the leaking coolant. You should not smell anything in the air flowing out of your vents. If you do, it’s time to have the ventilation system inspected.
The Windows Fog Up
A final sign that your heater core is clogged or leaking is that your windows will fog up when you turn on your heater or defroster. The reason why is that there is moisture in the air flowing through your vents from the heater core. When it needs the air inside your automobile, the natural result is the fogging of windows. Turning on your defroster will not help.
Cergizan’s Auto & Truck Repair in Chesterton, IN, can help, however. Give us a call today to set up an appointment for your automobile if you believe that your heater core is clogged or leaking.